A funny thing happened on the way to today’s regularly-scheduled post: Eleventh Stack was chosen as the winner in the Public Institution category of the Salem Press Library Blog Awards. This was about as shocking as–albeit much more pleasant than–coming back to your desk to find a goose head in your in-box.
Strange things happen around here sometimes. Photo courtesy Amy E.
In fact, even after mulling it over, I’m still not sure what, exactly, constitutes an appropriate thank you. It should be short and sweet, but not dismissive, and it should acknolwedge that a lot of people, who have no reason to do anything I ask them to (I’m not their manager, after all), carve out time in their workdays to write thoughtful, informative, and often hilarious essays about books, library programs and services, and other items of community interest. It should express gratitude to upper management for supporting our creative risks, the contest judges for grokking what our blog tries to do, and the other library bloggers nationwide who share our collective struggle to make libraries–which are, alas, still bogged down in horrible stereotypes–visible on social media. (Solidarity, brothers and sisters!) And, of course, it should give a shout-out to our Constant Readers, both those who have read along with us from the get-go, and those who have come to know as we’ve grown and (hopefully) matured as writers.
Hm. I think I’m on to something here.
Seriously, though: thank you. Whether you’re here in Pittsburgh or on the other side of the world, we hope that our blog remains a bright and cheerful five minutes in your regularly-scheduled daily pandemonium. We have a few ideas up our sleeves about how this blog could get even better, and we’ll gradually roll those out over the course of the next year. But because this blog is both for and about you as readers and thinkers, we want to remind you that suggestions and feedback can be sent to eleventhstack@carnegielibrary.org. Without your input, we’re just a bunch of people who know things and are inclined to be helpful, but have nobody to share them with. And that would be very, very sad.
When I logged in this morning to finally put the finishing touches on this essay–the perfect is, indeed, the enemy of the good–I discovered that Eleventh Stack had been Freshly Pressed again for the third time in two years. Words now seem horribly inadequte. I’ve got to up the ante on this thank you. It should involve cake. Loads of cake. And champagne. And a group serenade of our adoring fans, culminating in a rousing rendition of Queen’s “Fat-Bottomed Girls.” And…
…and there I go, getting carried away again. Thank you, internet. We owe you one.
Leigh Anne
who loved Salem Press digital reference books before the award, and is still one of their biggest fans.
Eleventh Stack 